Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Welcome back to the One Room Challenge! By this time, most of ya'll probably know that this is Week 5 of the 6 week makeover challenge. Each week all of the participating bloggers have been posting our progress on our room transformations...next week is the final reveal.

I've built an awful lot of hype around the Turquoise Urchin Chandelier for this room. I had considered making everyone wait until week six to view the light actually hanging. Instead, I'm giving ya'll a peak of how it looked in the room earlier this week...sorry for the shoddy photo. This was taken for my electrician from my iphone. His wife wanted to see what all the hype was about so I took a quick snapshot to email him. Room is in disarray and still in progress. But, what do you think of the light?

I've had to revisit my idea to trim the room with ribbon nail head trim. That Petersham ribbon I ordered in August is not shipping any time soon so I cancelled the order this week. I've got so much going on in this room now anyway that I don't need it.

So what did I do instead? I found this pom pom fringe with this great border and I paid for expedited shipping (from Taiwan) so I can see how it might look on the drapes. I may just leave them alone. I don't want it to look like Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory in here! I'll assess when I receive it.

I found this fuchsia chair at Home Goods and it adds a pop of color in the corner.

I'm also throwing together a gallery wall. That wasn't planned but I think it's necessary. I found a great quote print from One King's Lane that reminded me of my lil Vivster.

Since this "guest room" is technically where Vivi sleeps, I want to make the space hers, too. I have picked out artwork and quotes that will add a little "Vivi feel" to the room.

I am also starting to stage like crazy. Sure, there are only two nightstands and a dresser in this room. But a final reveal is all about presentation, baby. These herons are my faves. They'll be in the room someplace.

In the meantime, this week was a busy week, and not all ORC-related--which means I'll have to kick it into high gear for the final stretch! Last weekend I escaped Connecticut for a weekend getaway without the kids. My husband and I went to a wedding for a great friend in NYC.

I found these fabulous shoes in NYC to go with my dress for the wedding.

Mor Mor and Grandpa came into town to spend time with the kids.

My little guy, Jack, turned seven years old!

And I did a guest post over at DesignPost Interiors for Beth's "Take Two" series. Read here.

Check back next week for the FINAL reveal of the guest bedroom!

In the meantime, visit the other participants from the One Room Challenge.

And, as I always say, I also love to have new followers, so if you'd like to follow me on my journey, you can follow me by Google Friend Connect or by email delivery, just look over on the left hand side, and/or follow me on any of the other social media outlets as well. I like to meet new friends and will follow you back!

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Welcome back to the One Room Challenge. This is week 4 of 6 week room makeover challenge. This design challenge is the brainchild of Linda from Calling It Home. This semi-annual event started with 20 design oriented bloggers (selected by Linda) would participate by selecting one room of their own to transform from start to finish within the 6 week time period. Each week, progress is shared on the blogs until the final reveal at the very end.

This year, Linda has extended the One Room Challenge to include linking participants. And this is where Vivid Hue Home comes into the mix. I have decided to join the craziness and transform my guest bedroom during this time frame. If you're just checking into Vivid Hue's progress, please go back to the start and see where we started from in the previous weeks here:

Now that you're caught up, I must admit that I felt a tad bit guilty leaving ya'll with so many teasers last week. I was in a baaad place last week. I hadn't made much progress. My gorgeous Urchin Chandy was still sitting in the box. I wasn't looking forward to pulling the power drill back out to try to hang the drapes. I was in a funk.

Well...I managed to find a little extra kick in my step this week (aka, light a fire under my arse) and get some stuff completed. And I'm going to reveal a few things this week:

Most exciting news, this baby - the Turquoise Urchin Chandelier by Stimulight - is no longer in the box. And let me tell you, it is as great as I'd hoped it would be. Here's a sneak peek of it in the ceiling.

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Last week I gave you a pitiful lil teaser for the fabulous brass lamps that I found. It looked like this:

I chuckle now. I promise I will never do that sh*t to you again. We're better friends than that. You deserve more.

Here's how both of the lamps look! I wanted something simple that would not compete with the sputnik chandelier. I had to go to two different Home Goods locations to for these. I spotted only one at my usual Home Goods but I snatched it up determined to locate a second. I paid $59.99 for lamp #1. The very next day, I headed to the second local Home Goods and found the exact same lamp but it selling for $99.99. FORTY DOLLARS DIFFERENCE. I explained to the store manager at the Wethersfield, Connecticut store that I'd just purchased the exact same lamp with a different shade yesterday. He was super accommodating and trusting and he agreed to do a price adjustment for me in good faith that I was being honest (and I was). I wanted to mention their stellar customer service here. (I did have my receipt but oddly the lamps had 2 different ID numbers which muddied the waters).

I have also been able to get beveled mirror tops made for the Parker Kennedy nightstands. I am obsessed with the nightstands but the boys warned me when I purchased them that they had some water damage on top. I took measurements of the tops. Found a local glass and mirror company. Called the order in over the phone. I requested a 1 inch thick bevel. Two weeks later, I went to pick the mirror tops up and they fit like a glove. I still need to change out the nightstand hardware and touch up a few spots that are damaged on the paint. And of course STYLE the nightstands. But the mirrors up the glam factor! ($80/ each nightstand)

I hung the brass hardware and linen drapes in the room. I did give the power drill another go. It worked out much better for me this time around. I'm embarrassed to admit that I figured out why I had so many challenges when I was hanging the blinds. (I was using the darned SCREW in the drill and not a DRILL BIT). Lemme tell you, a hole is made in the wall much more quickly with the dang drill bit. (Geesh, I'm swearing a lot this post and boy does it feel good)

I need to take care of the details...Like ironing the drapes. Right now I just stuck them up there to get an idea for height and feeling in the room. I'm also trying to determine the artwork that I'll use in the room. I had this piece of art hanging in the guest room before and it does still have navy and wood tones that would match some of the other components in the room....still deciding.

And lastly, remember that large splotch of turquoise blob that I shared with you last week?

Well, get ready for a mini reveal...

It's Turquoise Tem-paper Wallpaper and I found it on Amazon on clearance. Because my fuchsia grosgrain ribbon is going on 3 months of back order, I had a hair brained idea of trying to wallpaper my ceiling turquoise instead. Great in theory. I wish I'd planned this out a bit better. I would have purchased a bit better quality (non-clearance) paper. Or lined up my painter to paint the ceiling a turquoise lacquer. Here's why. I started to lay strips of the wide paper across the ceiling and it's so thin that every single seam showed through. It was the biggest botch job. When I decided to peel the paper off the ceiling, it pulled my CEILING off with it. Proof below:

WHAT A COMPLETE MESS!

So I decided to get creative. I had to think of something to hide the new mess!

I am now attempting to make the temporary paper thinner. I have cut them into strips and I'm putting them in rows of three then one then three then one across the ceiling.

At first I worried about how it would compete with the chandelier. But as time goes on, I sort of like it! Here's a snippet:

I'm thinking this may be a fun little addition to the room that came out of my little mistake. Of course, now I'll nix the ribbon nail head trim in here because it will be entirely too much going on. I can always do that in the mudroom. * I had originally thought of doing it in there in the first place and now I think I'll go back to rethinking it for there.

I have also thought about creating an art wall on one of the walls in the room. That wasn't in the original plans. And I need to add more oomph to those drapes. I'm looking for fun ways to style the nightstands and I still need to add the hardware.

The devil is in the details and I'm going to be out of town this weekend at a wedding. I'm worried that the time is going to slip away from me! I don't want to loose momentum now!

What are your thoughts about what I've shown you on the ceiling? I'm trying not to give too much away but are you cringing? Are you intrigued? Can you see it working? Is it too over the top?
Be honest!

Please check back next week. And in the meantime, check out the other participants from the One Room Challenge.

And, as I always say, I also love to have new followers, so if you'd like to follow me on my journey, you can follow me by Google Friend Connect or by email delivery, just look over on the left hand side, and/or follow me on any of the other social media outlets as well. I like to meet new friends and will follow you back!

Friday, October 18, 2013

Ya'll remember my visit to the Fanciest Tag Sale in Connecticut? Well it turns out if you're a Vivid Hue follower that lives in the Central Connecticut area, you have a chance to visit this mansion on Governor's row for a very special event next weekend, Oct 25th! That's right, this is no joke. You can find yourself here, at Greenhill, in the company of Krystian von Speidel and Nathan Frank...and not even be escorted out by the security!

In conjunction with the Connecticut Historical Society, you are invited to attend this fabulous event next Friday, October 25th at 5:30pm to mingle with members of the Connecticut Historical Society, meet the new Executive Director of the Society; Jody Blankenship, and best of all...

View mid-century items from the Connecticut Historical Society collection and tour the home of Krystian and Nathan. (Let you remind you that this home is uber fantastic. It deserves to be in every home decor magazine imaginable but the fact that Krystian produces stories for many of these major publications may explain why Greenhill remains unpublished due to conflict of interest). I'm telling you I was DROOLING. There's gallery-worthy artwork and an umbrella stand styled with vintage walking canes. If the bamboo bar cart, bamboo palm beach regency fan chair and easel were their "scraps" at the tag sale, you can imagine the eye candy in this place.

Below is the invitation for this fabulous event and how you can attend. Tickets are only $50 per person and this is sure to be an event worth talking about. (Let me assure you that Krystian and Nathan throw one heck of a party).

The RSVP states that you must reply by October 17th, but this date has been lifted.

Please plan to attend if you're in the area. The proceeds will benefit the Connecticut Historical Society (yes, it goes to a great cause).

You'll love the drive through the neighborhood and you'll be sure to have a wonderful time at the event as you'll be hosted by the best hosts in town.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Welcome back to the One Room Challenge! This is Week 3 of a 6 week room makeover challenge. If you are new here, thank you so much for visiting. You can catch up by visiting here.

Week 3. This is the week I like to call "Evaluate...and Procrastinate"

I'm making over my guest bedroom in a sort of Bohemian Chic meets Palm Beach.
I thought I had so many wonderful ideas at the start of this. I'm still enthusiastic, but a bit discouraged that I'm starting to veer off course.

Here's an assessment of where things stand:

Remember my fabulous Turquoise Urchin Chandelier?

Here's an update: Yep. Still in the box. I'm waiting for my electrician's schedule to free up so he can get to the house to install it! He KNOWS this is One Room Challenge time! He *promised* he could do the install within this time frame. And I'm just crossing my fingers that this baby gets hung in the next 3 weeks. This will be the *statement* for the room. Don't make me get my hammer and screws out and nail this sucker to the ceiling! (Reference from Week 2).

I had a surprise up my sleeve that involved this slab of turquoise: (no, I'm not telling what it is, but this is an *actual photo crop* of the secret item). Let's just say, I think this surprise twist is going to turn out to be a complete FLOP. I'm going to have to rethink this. Bummer!

I was able to find a few table lamps for the nightstands. I tried to find as simple as possible because that sputnik lamp doesn't need any other competition in the room! I originally posted a photo of the entire lamp but I decided I'm going to make ya'll wait at least another week to see them.

(I know the suspense is killing you)

I haven't even attempted to hang my window hardware or drapes. (Though they HAVE been purchased!!!) I've been procrastinating in hanging them. The blinds did me in. Plus I'm charging my drill extra long this time.

Still no ribbon for the ribbon trim. Thank you Ms. Lisa Mende for giving me some options of where to purchase Petersham ribbon elsewhere!

And now, in true procrastinating fashion, I thought I'd share with you some pillows I purchased for my sunroom today while I was supposed to be shopping for items for the guest room! In true Vivid Hue fashion, I spotted the pillows. Fell in love with them. And then tried to figure out which room in the house they would fit in. I decided I could switch some pillows out in the sun room for a bit. Here's what I ended up with:

I guarantee I will have more work done next week for the next reveal! I'd BETTER! Time is ticking away. Please check back next week. And in the meantime, check out the other participants from the One Room Challenge. In addition to the below, there are over 70 that are participating in the linking challenge (like me). You can access those from Linda's Calling It Home.

I also love to have new followers, so if you'd like to follow me on my journey, you can follow me by by Google Friend Connect or by email delivery, just look over on the left hand side, and/or follow me on any of the other social media outlets as well. I like to meet new friends and will follow you back!